Subject: Tom LaBonge

• An Appealing Shade of Green

  September 6, 2001

• Two for the Money

  September 20, 2001

• L.A.’s War of Words

  February 27, 2003

• 2008 Wind-down: Free and Sundry Activities

  As 2008 hobbles to the finish line and telephone calls to offices across the city go unanswered, here are a few quick freebie activities to engage in.Rose Parade Route Stakeouts Beginning at noon you can start marking your territory along the Tournament of Roses Parade route. Before that time cops will clear away any dibs markers you may have optimistically left behind on the sidewalk before heading home for a disco nap. At 11 p.m. those wishing to camp out along the route's primo spots can star

  December 31, 2008

• Now He Tells Us! Tom LaBonge's Second Thoughts

  LAist editor-writer Zack Behrens caught a Channel 11 interview with District Four City Councilman Tom LaBonge, in which LaBonge now expresses regrets for approving the increase of city parking meter fees and their hours of operation. The L.A. Times and L.A. Daily News have recently reported how after-5 businesses such as theaters and restaurants face crippling customer losses. It's now clear that patrons  don't want to have to feed meters all night long -- when they can find street parking

  January 9, 2009

• Pachyderm Forest: Zoo Gem or Elephant Graveyard?

  It's one of those stories that has Only in L.A. stenciled all over it. The L.A. Times reports that as rock guitarist Slash and zoo employees rallied at City Hall to keep the L.A. Zoo's $42 million Pachyderm Forest habitat on track,  Bob Barker has thrilled animal-rights opponents of the forest with a $1.5 million pledge to keep it dead in the water. The forest's opponents claim the proposed six-acre site is too small to accomodate the likes of Billy the Elephant, and are seeking his transfe

  January 26, 2009

• Griffith Park Wins Landmark Status

  By David FerrellWith  Councilman Tom LaBonge hailing it as "the greatest gift ever given to the city of Los Angeles," the L.A. City Council granted unanimous final approval today to naming sprawling, mountainous Griffith Park a historic landmark.The hard-won designation, supported by neighborhood groups and citizens who deluged City Hall with more than 15,000 petitions, grew out of a backlash over widely villified proposals to "master plan" the park by erecting aerial tramways, restaurants

  January 27, 2009

• Los Angeles on $300,000 a year

  Why next week's City Council "coronation" will cost you far more than money

  February 26, 2009

• Is Tokyo the Future for Los Angeles?

  A new "ban" would allow 20 areas citywide thick with billboards

  January 29, 2009

• Griffith Park Shenanigans

  La Bonge's landmark designation leaves big loopholes for chains and hotels

  January 22, 2009

• "Roadblock" and Other Cyclists Revolt at LAPD Ticketing for Bike Riding Without a License

  Ticket to Ride: Fighting over a $3 license, midnight riders claim harassment

  December 18, 2008

• The $850,000 Crosswalk, a.k.a. the Island of Dr. LaBonge

  Your Los Angeles City Council at work

  November 27, 2008

• Tom LaBonge's Griffith Park Body Language

  Does his tortured public behavior mean treachery or support for saving it from hotels and chain stores?

  November 20, 2008

• Digital Billboards Become a Bohemian Blasphemy

  Silver Lake, Hollywood, the Valley and Westside take on City Hall's anti-green transformation of LA

  November 20, 2008

• Money Can’t Buy Garfield Love

  November 1, 2001

• Best Moonlight Stroll: Sierra Club's Griffith Park Hike

  October 2, 2008

• Griffith Park's Empty Canvas Problem

  Will an obscure "cultural" board resist the density hawks?

  September 25, 2008

• Branding Griffith Park: Heirs of Land's Bequeather Fight Commercialization Plan

  Griffith J. Griffith's great-grandson: "It’s not a theme park. It’s not a movie studio. People don’t want to see it turned into Disneyland ..."

  August 14, 2008

• Delgadillo's War

  Quietly, the city attorney is targeting Hollywood’s historic preservation protections

  September 6, 2007

• Angelenos Sue City Hall Over Prodensity "Affordable Housing" Pretense

  April 24, 2008

• It Ain't Pretty

  May 29, 2003

• Why L.A. Is Park Poor

  A "broke" City Council and befuddled downtown bureaucrats sit on $130 million

  March 27, 2008

• Close Call for Fire Station 35

  Firefight at Griffith Park’s Hogback Trail Bridge

  May 17, 2007

• Should L.A. City Council Agree to Slash Its $178,789 Salaries?

  April 16, 2009

• Sol's Day

  On the trail to a 92nd birthday celebration in Griffith Park

  August 30, 2007

• Cut the Mustard

  What to do with Griffith, the most misunderstood park in the land?

  May 24, 2007

• Tom Labonge: The Mayor of (Fire-Blackened) Griffith Park

  On the day that fire threatened Los Feliz, LaBonge behaved like a councilman should.

  May 10, 2007

• Power Turf

  October 25, 2001

• The Lost Streams of Los Angeles

  Uncovering our wet and wild past. Is it safe, or even possible, to let the water flow again?

  November 9, 2006

• Annual Anagrams

  April 27, 2006

• MIA on DWP

  March 30, 2006

• More Politics Lists

  January 5, 2006

• First-Day Chatters

  December 1, 2005

• Summer’s Welcome Man

  June 30, 2005

• Red Line to Somewhere

  March 3, 2005

• Dennis Zine, City Council District 3

  March 3, 2005

• The Sky is Falling

  August 21, 2003

• Endorsements

  March 6, 2003

• L.A.’s Slow March to Peace

  February 20, 2003

• Yanking the Welcome Mat

  August 29, 2002

• The Garfield Gamble

  October 25, 2001

• Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

  Zero for Conduct L.A. Unified School District officials are calling for legislation to make it easier to fire incompetent, tenured teachers. State Senator Gloria Romero, formerly opposed to the idea, now seems to be on board somewhat. L.A. TimesNo Cash Flow The Palmdale Water District's cash reserves have evaporated since April and PWD is facing bankruptcy unless it can raise water rates. Antelope Valley PressCarson Showdown An autocratic (and unelected) leader of a troubled condo complex is bat

  May 4, 2009

• L.A.'s Density Bonus Blowup

  April 30, 2009

• Claiming Poverty, L.A. City Council Tries to Defund Its Critics

  May 21, 2009

• City Council Postpones Controversial Billboard Vote

  The Los Angeles City Council postponed a vote on a sweeping billboard law that would ban digital billboards and giant supergraphics, but allow them in specially designated "sign districts." Facing a barrage of criticism from anti-clutter activists and business leaders, council members agreed to hold off voting until September, when new City Attorney  Carmen Trutanich takes office. Billboard Crooner: Tom LaBonge The Los Angeles Times reported that Trutanich was chatting up council members

  May 26, 2009

• Ruining the L.A. Marathon

  June 18, 2009

• City to Ban Sidewalk Bicycling?

  LAist reports that the L.A. City Council's Transportation Committee is looking at banning cyclists from riding on sidewalks. On the one hand, this is good news for the city's beaten-down pedestrians -- on the other, though, it would force a lot of young and inexperienced cyclists into L.A.'s hellish streets. According to poster Danielle Directo, one suggestion to come out from last week's meeting recommended the establishment of bike paths that are barricaded, presumably to separate cyclists fro

  June 22, 2009

• Sister City Act: Tom LaBonge, Our Man in the U.K.

  Petra Fried at Mayor Sam's Sister City took umbrage today twice -- over City Councilman Tom LaBonge's absence from the council and the fact that he's apparently junketing in Northern England, doubtlessly impressing locals there with his plenipotentiary powers as District Four's man in the U.K. What really ticked off the Sister City scribe was LaBonge's coup in signing Manchester on to be yet another sibling city of L.A. (There's already 25 of them.) In fact, he's in England wearing the hat of th

  July 29, 2009

• Of Munchkins and George Hamilton

  Don't try to find street parking in front of the Knitting Factory between around 10 a.m. and noon today. For one thing, George Hamilton is getting his Walk of Fame star at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard as a 70th birthday present. For another, tough-guy actor James Caan is scheduled to speak at the tourist-magnet event, and won't take kindly to any attempts to assert your parking rights when there are cameras present.A little east of here, in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater, at 1 p.m., L.A.

  August 12, 2009

• CIM Group: Hollywood's Richest Slumlord

  September 3, 2009